Pray to Ask if You are in the Faith

A comment I received on another post, was expressing the frustration with "Christians", they often act worse than non-Christians. Here was my answer to this comment;

There is a lot of corruption in the Catholic church for sure and in the denominations. However, true believers do not live a lifestyle of sin, they are convicted by the Holy Spirit if they do sin and eventually confess it to be cleansed. These verses were written to believer in Christ.

1 John 1:9-10 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."

Believers do sin on occasion but they do not live a continual lifestyle of sin, ongoing and defensive of it. True believers are ashamed when they sin.

Also the Scripture tells us that many will think they are born again but in fact never were . They came to Christ to get things out of Him, rather than to be cleansed by Him.

Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

God says "you shall know them by their fruit."

Matthew 7:16-20
"16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
"17 Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is chopped down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

God also told us what the fruit was: It is the Holy Spirit, in which dwells all goodness and justice.

Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

When we have been forgiven and the blood of Jesus Christ covers our sin, then the Holy Spirit is sent to live in us and He is the essence of the fruit, He is given to us by God, He works in us to be what we should be, that is those who glorify the Father and obey the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we place our trust in men, we have nothing but disappointment, when we place our trust in Christ we have the fruit and the hope of His return when He comes for us.

Keep in mind that most who claim to be Christian in our world, never trusted Him, they remain in their sin without hope until they stop trusting in themselves and begin to trust Christ.